To Howl at the Moon
by UnFinished1995
Summary: Story takes place before Kikyo shot Inuyasha with the arrow. "Inuyasha might lose his powers when the moon is full," Hoshiko said, "But I am at my strongest." Lady Kazuko looked up at the young woman. The poor priestess eyes were flooding with water that dripped onto the human and unconscious Inuyasha. "What are you," she sniffed. "I am, the moon." Read more here!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Thief and the Priestess

The full moon waned over the small group of travelers as they silently crossed through the forest. And old man led two oxen who pulled a small carriage and behind it walked one, single guard.

"Trying to keep quiet," she chuckled to herself and they slowly passed by the tree she was hiding in. She had been watching the small entourage since they had left the village right before sunset. _'I bet they're trying to avoid bandits'_ she thought. She smirked.

"Well, aren't they in for a surprise." The small party finally passed by her tree and she hopped over to the next silently giggled evilly to herself.

There was a loud knocking from the inside of the carriage. The old man halted his oxen and looked behind him and the guard ran up to the carriage window.

"What is it my lady?" He asked in haste. "Does a demon approach?"

"Not a demon, but a-" a silky voice uttered from the cart.

"A FOREST WITCH!" the old man shouted. The guard spun around and stared down the path. In front of them stood the glowing image of a girl with a long black hair and a kitsune mask on. The guard drew his sword and the old man went and pulled a staff out of the carriage. Apparently he was a monk.

"Repent you devil woman," the old man shouted as he charged the girl in front of him. He pulled prayer slips out of his kimono and through them at her. Each one made contact with her sticking all over her body. The old man stopped running and smirked. He pressed his middle and index finger together and raised then to his face. "This is where you die, wretch!"

The prayer slips exploded. A cloud of dust and debris formed around the girl and blew back at the guard, the old man, and the carriage. Slowly the smoke cleared away and the old man's smirk disappeared. In front of him laid the kitsune mask and no body parts.

"What the hell..." He stammered.

"Behind you," a young woman's voice cooed in his ear. The old man quickly spun around only to get a face full of foot. He went flying back towards the carriage and the guard his face a bloodied mess. The guard tightened his grip around his sword.

In front of him and girl, about 15-years-old, landed. She wore a short, dark purple kimono that had been tattered up and had no sleeves that was tied together by a ratty black sash. On her arms she had bandages that wrapped up to her knuckles as well as bandages that wrapped underneath her kimono and down to her mid thigh and then from the tops of her ankles to the tops of the balls of her feet. She looked back at the mask and sighed.

"You chipped my mask," she whined slowly turning her head back. "Do you know how long it took me to steal that?" She was looking at him now, though her eyes were closed.

"Beware, the moon hides her," the silky voice from within the carriage cooed the guard. He tightened his grip on his sword tight enough that his knuckles turned white.

In the far off distance a wolf howled and the clouds covered the moon. The girl started to chuckle. She opened her eyes right as the moon was covered so all he could see were two glowing silver eyes staring at him in the darkness. The guard dropped his sword and screamed then turned around and ran.

The clouds passed by the moon and the area around the girl and the carriage was lit again.

"Well, that was easy," the girl laughed as she walked towards the carriage. She pulled out a pair of tonfa blades. Instead of being straight like a normal blade, her swords were slightly curved. "So 'my lady', what riches do you carry?"

She knelt down next to the monk and took the small change purse he had on him. She stood back up again and looked at the carriage. She reached for the out to open the door.

An arrow crossed suddenly in front of her finger tips. She pulled her hand back. Down the forest path a priestess stood with a bow. She glared at the girl.

"I know not of what you are, but I know you are not human," she called out at the girl. She pulled another arrow and aimed in at the bandit girl. "That was just a warning shot, next time I won't miss." The bandit girl clicked her tongue and stared down the priestess.

"So bothersome," she sighed as she threw one of her tonfa's at the priestess. The blade flew like a boomerang would. Just then and flash of red deflected the weapon and it flew back at her. She caught it and raised her blades into a fighting position.

A guy in a red kimono stood between her and the priestess. He had long silver hair and white ears like a dog. He looked to be about the same age as her, but it was usually hard to tell with these demon - types.

"Well isn't this a party," she snickered. The male grunted.

"How dare you attack Kikyo!" He snapped at her.

"Attack? You do know she attacked me first. I felt threatened so I defended myself."

"I've had enough of your smart mouth," he shouted, "Iron reaver soul stealer!" The dog guy raised his claws up and began to attack when Kikyo grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back. She shook her head.

"Inuyasha, no..." she said before she trailed off their conversation. The bandit girl watched as the priestess began to whisper to the dog boy and she shrugged. This little carriage ride no longer concerned her.

"If a shrine maiden is so adamant about protecting this small party, then there must be nothing of worth a good chunk of change in there." The girl turned away and leaped up into the trees. She disappeared.

Kikyo let go of Inuyasha's sleeve and walked towards the carriage.

"Are you okay, Lady Kazuko?"

Out stepped a priestess a little bit older than Kikyo. She had longer black hair than Kikyo's and it wasn't tied back. Her eyes were dark brown and her skin seemed to glow in the moon light. She looked over at her fellow shrine maiden smiled. Her smile was so warm and innocent that it could melt the heart of even the most darkest of evils.

"Lady Kikyo, I bring word from the temples of the moon," Lady Kazuko said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Hoshiko**

Hoshiko emptied the small coin purse into her hand. Three rocks fell out and a sea shell. She stared at her now worthless heist from the night before.

"Well that was about 2 hours of following for nothing," she sighed. Hoshiko laid up in a tree relaxing as the sun gleamed down on her face through the canopy of leaves above her. It was peaceful in the forest that morning. Birds chirped, foxes played with each other below her, and nature relaxed for the time being. She closed her eyes. She hadn't had any sleep that night after her little escapade.

"What if it's a demon Lady Kikyou is having us hunt for?" a male voice said beneath her.

Hoshiko frowned and opened one eye and looked down. Three men walked below her, one with spears, one with a farming scythe, and the other with a bow and arrow.

"It's a little girl we're looking for," the one with the spear said.

"I heard she is a fox demon. Lady Kikyou said she might be wearing the mask of a Kitsune," the guy with the farming scythe said. Hoshiko took one of the rocks and threw it down at the guy with the farming scythe. They all looked up shocked.

"I'm no filthy fox demon," she snapped.

"Then what type of demon are?!" the man with the bow growled aiming his bow in at her. "Obviously you're some kind to be that high in the tree."

"I'm not any kind of demon! I climbed like anyone else would have." She squinted her eyes. "And if you keep that bow aimed in on me any longer, you'd better be prepared to shoot it." She moved her hand behind her and grabbed one of her tonfa's.

"Squirrel demon!" the man with the bow shouted at her as he released his bow.

* * *

><p>"Moon demons?" Kikyou asked staring at the priestess in front of her. Lady Kazuko sipped on her tea. She set her cup down.<p>

"I know it sounds absurd," Kazuko said nodding her head, "but it's the truth. Like in a children's tales, these monsters come out to feed on the flesh and blood of human guided only by the moon." Inuyasha scoffed. He was laying down in front of the door to Kikyou's hut.

"Sounds like any other type of demon, if you ask me," he said. "The only difference is they can only come out with moonlight." The priestess shook her head.

"I wish it were that easy, but I'm afraid a simple minded, half demon like you wouldn't understand." Inuyasha rolled up into an upright position. She had said it so smoothly and innocently that it made the insult that much worse. He glared at Kazuko. She didn't even look his way. Inuyasha opened his mouth to snap and yell at her, but was halted by a village - man running in.

"Lady Kikyou!" He shouted. The man gripped tightly to a shoulder wound that had drenched his kimono sleeve in blood. "She's here!" The three hurried outside the hut to see a mosh-pit of men standing in a circle. Suddenly, those men erupted into the air, flying all different directions and landing everywhere. One landed in front of Inuyasha, Kikyou, and Kazuko.

"My lady," he pleaded, "please help us." Kikyou stared down at the poor man who had just went unconscious for a moment then looked over at the girl from the night before.

She stood their apathetically as some more men came at her. She easily evaded the village men's moves and struck them down just as easy. Inuyasha grunted.

"Step aside, Kikyou," she said stepping in front of her and Kazuko. "Take your friend inside and I'll take care of this." He knew Kikyou could defend herself just as easily, if not better than, he could. She opened her mouth to protest but Kazuko stepped in front of them both.

"He's just mad because he couldn't actually get her last night," Kazuko said blankly. The two stared at the priestess and watched her put her fingers together. She closed her eyes and started mumbling something.

"You guys again," the bandit whined as she readied herself to throw one of her tonfas'. "You know you're starting to become a pain in my neck. I should have killed you last night."

She hurled both blades at the priestess. The flew through the air with grace and power that it just seemed to glide with ease. The blades raced each other to the priestess. Then she opened her eyes and in a split second the tonfa's both hit the ground and Hoshiko was sent flying backwards.

The earth around the village began to shake and live stock and other animals went crazy. Dust flew up and whooshed in surrounded the immediate area of Kazuko's spell.

Just as suddenly as it happened, everything calmed down. The earth stopped shaking, the animals quieted down, and, eventually the dust slowly cleared.

Kikiyou coughed as she tried to clear her lungs and nose for fresh air, and Inuyasha, who had had a hold of her during the attack, gradually let go of her. He helped her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. She nodded her head. He gave her a faint smile, then looked over at Lady Kazuko. He had prepared a whole rage fit for, but stopped and gawked. Nothing in the village was destroyed. Sure, it was a little more dusty than usual, but everything was fine. In fact it was more than fine.

Across the way, Kazuko walked and grabbed ahold of Hoshiko's head. She looked at her and smiled.

"You're going to be my guard now."

Hoshiko, who was pinned against the side of a house had a small anklet.


End file.
